There are many lobbies whose constituents stand to lose money and jobs if weed is decriminalized. Just off the top of my head, there are the beer companies, prison guard unions, and the for-profit prison industry. Just look up "the prison industrial complex."

It is all very disturbing...

"You don't have a right to be a jerk."
--Religion Forum's hypocrite extraordinaire serving up lulz

At 12/4/2014 9:07:40 PM, Fly wrote:There are many lobbies whose constituents stand to lose money and jobs if weed is decriminalized. Just off the top of my head, there are the beer companies, prison guard unions, and the for-profit prison industry. Just look up "the prison industrial complex."

It is all very disturbing...

The percentage of inmates who are in for drugs would never make up the lobbyist costs. And the beer companies have nothing to lose. If anything, drugs and alcohol go together well.

Most of the issues would be the health concerns, addictive behavior, and cost to regulate. In fact, cost to regulate an industry like weed would be extreme.

At 12/4/2014 9:07:40 PM, Fly wrote:There are many lobbies whose constituents stand to lose money and jobs if weed is decriminalized. Just off the top of my head, there are the beer companies, prison guard unions, and the for-profit prison industry. Just look up "the prison industrial complex."

It is all very disturbing...

The percentage of inmates who are in for drugs would never make up the lobbyist costs. And the beer companies have nothing to lose. If anything, drugs and alcohol go together well.

Most of the issues would be the health concerns, addictive behavior, and cost to regulate. In fact, cost to regulate an industry like weed would be extreme.

Interesting! Are you able to show the data that supports this?

"You don't have a right to be a jerk."
--Religion Forum's hypocrite extraordinaire serving up lulz

Perhaps because cannabis is harmful? I think that might be a reason why it is illegal.Before people go and say 'what about alcohol then?' that is not a valid argument, as two wrongs don't make a right and therefore should not provide any pressure whatsoever to legalise cannabis.

I have friends who have a 21 year old son who has smoked cannabis for years. He is now completely paranoid, has been sectioned twice, and now lives in a state paid for flat and will never work again. In short he is a massive drain on society. SO WHAT IS THE PROBLEM WITH WEED ?

At 12/4/2014 9:07:40 PM, Fly wrote:There are many lobbies whose constituents stand to lose money and jobs if weed is decriminalized. Just off the top of my head, there are the beer companies, prison guard unions, and the for-profit prison industry. Just look up "the prison industrial complex."

It is all very disturbing...

The percentage of inmates who are in for drugs would never make up the lobbyist costs. And the beer companies have nothing to lose. If anything, drugs and alcohol go together well.

Most of the issues would be the health concerns, addictive behavior, and cost to regulate. In fact, cost to regulate an industry like weed would be extreme.

The issue clearly isn't health, or they wouldn't need to lie about it. It's probably a combination of helping prison profits and controlling people, with more emphasis on the latter. Criminalising weed criminalises a large portion of the population and gives the government another reason to lock up poor minorities.

At 12/8/2014 9:14:58 AM, Philocat wrote:Perhaps because cannabis is harmful? I think that might be a reason why it is illegal.Before people go and say 'what about alcohol then?' that is not a valid argument, as two wrongs don't make a right and therefore should not provide any pressure whatsoever to legalise cannabis.

There is no evidence at all to support the idea that drug laws are based on minimising harm, because the current laws are so bad at minimising harm. For decades scientists have been publishing reports describing just that.